Once upon a time, in a not-so-distant past, my family listed our house twice in two years. We moved three times over those two years – in with my mom, back to the ‘sale pending’ house, into our new home. During that second year, specifically that fall, we had a host of other happenings as well:

-From August on, our belongings were packed into a storage unit, and we were packed into my mom’s townhome.

September - Book - Order - Mom - Living

-In September I self-published my first book, packing up and mailing out each order from my mom’s living room.

-In October, I turned 34, and we made 6 offers on 6 houses, each one turned down.

November - Daughter - Home - Offer - Thanksgiving

-In November, my youngest daughter turned 1, and we moved into our new home (the 7th offer) just before Thanksgiving.

-My little sister got married on New Year’s Eve, and as the matron of honor I had the pleasure of planning and hosting her bridal shower (in October) and bachelorette brunch (in November), and getting my family ready to be the ring bearer, flower girls, and a groomsman.

December - Son - Birthday - Christmas - Sister

It was a season we’ll never forget. Recently I was reflecting on that time of chaos, and I remembered one morning when I made oatmeal.

Home - Week - Items - Boxes - Ton

We’d been packing up to move out of our home the next week, so many of the items we use daily were stored away in boxes. I hadn’t been doing a ton of cooking because of the inconvenience, but this day while we were in our still-half-ours home, I pulled out my trusty old slow-cooker.

Now, friends, there’s nothing simpler than my slow-cooker apple cinnamon oatmeal recipe. It scents the house with comfort and gives my family a great meal. I can prepare it once, pour it into...